Sir Colin Davis - Mozart: Requiem, Great Mass, Coronation Mass (1993)

In his brief life Wolfgang Amadeus wrote some 50 works for the Catholic Church, between age 10 and 25, until, of course, his death interrupted Requiem, finished by friend and pupil, and present during it's writing, Franz Xavier Sussmayr, after a visit from Constanze Mozart. For the most part, we have attributed the final sections to this associate of the great composer, the "Sanctus", "Benedictus", "Agnus Dei" and the final "Lux aeterna" and "Cum sanctis tuis." The Requiem is found on CD #2 in this Philips twin pack I picked up here on Amazon for, what I suspect was a pittance, compared to other sites.
Sir Colin Davis, R.I.P., leads the London Orchestras (LSO--BBC) in performances given in February 1971 for the K.317 and 427, and in September 1967 for the K.626 Requiem. Both Helen Donth, soprano and tenor Ryland Davies sing in all here works and the choirs are the Alldis and LSO Chorus. Davis, of course, conducts the entire project in a raversal of the major liturgical works by the composer, for Philips.
First up is the "Great" c-minor Mass, K. 427, left unfinished after the Benedictus. As is, the Mass runs a bountiful 52 plus minutes, and perhaps most who have heard didn't know it had been left incomplete, anyhow. The opening choral statement of the Kyrie is bold, dramatic and foreboding---quite theatrical, as we can thank the Italian operatic tradition the composer was infatuated with, having written both Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro. In fact, I'll take this aopening part over the much more popular Kyrie from the Requiem any day. Davis's sense of dramatic sweep is impressive and highly suspenceful and the vocal somersaults by Miss Donath add refinement tothis nearly 7 minute long entry segment.
By far, the 26:45 long Gloria, far surpassing even the Bruckner f-minor "Great" Mass in 1868, is stunning in it's 8 part construction. Throughout this multi-segmented composition, the soloists all get ample time to display their wares. Helen Donath and the choral/orchestral forces at Sir Colin's fingertips, pour forth much feeling and from track #6, forcing me to agree with a previous reviewer this idea of his humanity, cited earlier. This is an example of Sir Colin's attempt to bridge the gap from the very traditional, to the "new" Catholic Orthodoxy regarding Church music. We can hear, but more importantly, feel and experience the trend towards the Romantic Age, with the aid of dramatic ideas, exemplified by Beethoven, politely countered by "papa" Haydn, and a steadfastness from Gounod, Faure and on to Bruckner.
The Mass in C, the so-called "Coronation" Mass K.317 is generally festive and celebratory, it music bursting forth with much energy and sunlight. Even in the Kyrie, we do not yet heard the pleading and petitioning, and the Gloria comes off as a rousing opening movement for Soprano and Chorus, featuring the John Alldis Choir. Colin Davis' directing is exuberant and cheerful.